Quest for Glory 1-5

There's just something about these games that grabs me. Every couple of years, I pull out my QfG disks, re-install them, and play all five games straight through. Since I know all the plots inside and out, I can usually get through all five in about a week -- but there's something so satisfying about them. I don't know if someone just coming to them would feel as passionately about them as I do, but they're definitely worth checking out. They are true classics of the genre, and for ten dollars for five games, they're worth seeing if this grabs you. Let's be honest -- I suspect that few of you will be as obsessed as I am, but if the point-and-click adventure genre has any appeal to you, you will enjoy them. The first two games were released in 8-bit graphics (CGA), and the other three were 16-bit (VGA). The first one was re-done as VGA, and you get both versions. There are people who prefer the CGA version; the VGA version made some tiny changes, and some prefer the original. No VGA version was officially made for QfG 2, but some fans made a VGA version you can download for free -- and, yes, you can import and export your character as usual. So I highly recommend this thing. It is, very simply, my favorite game series ever. It is -- they are -- one of the greatest point-and-click adventures ever created. You could argue that the greatest is Monkey Island, or King's Quest, or Day of the Tentacle, but this one gets my vote.

In the mid-nineties, when my family first got a computer, the first QFG game was one of the games my uncle came over and installed. It stuck with me for years. And now, close to twenty years later, I got to play it again, and go through the sequels as well. Some games don't age very well, but these have held up incredibly. The art is still gorgeous, and now that I'm older I get more of the jokes and references and appreciate bits of the story that went over my head when I was 7-9 years old. My only point of contention is the fifth game is kinda lackluster and the second game's hard to get at if you played the first one in VGA mode (fortunately, some fans did a remake of the second game to add in the point-and-click interface and better graphics. Thanks, AGD!). High recommended. Best ten-dollar buy on GOG.com

Five wonderful game, each with its own charme, cultural and folkloristic backgrond (they are inspired by german fairy tale, oriental, african, slavic, greek motives), many puzzles (depending on which character you choose, solutions can vary depending if you are a fighting brute, a clever thief or a calculating mage), loveable and unforgettable characters, countless hours of exploring, thrilling fights against monsters and villains. QfG is one of the most imaginative series I know. The game series is one of the very few working genre-hybrids of RPG and adventure - as far as I know it's unique. It even has day-night cycles and the need to feed your character and sleep frequently. I come back to these wonderful games again and again - with QfG 1 being my personal favourite, as I like the german fairy tale-vibe it features.

My first buy on GOG, and what really sold me (heh) on the site. An epic journey trough five different lands, one per game, where you have to live up to your desire to become a hero. You're a silent protagonist, yet the story feels intimate and personal, in part through the other character's reaction to you, and in part through the inclusion of indirect speech ("You told the sheriff about the brigand's leader"). Even though I started completing Sierra Adventures pretty late in my life, "Quest for Glory" has become my favorite Adventure Game series of all time, knocking Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer off their thrones in my heart. The silly and wacky, yet at the right time serious and emotional story was one reason. Gameplay's another. Untypically for an Adventure game you get to customize your character somewhat. You chose a class (Thief, Fighter, Mage) and distribute points to various skills and attributes. You can also "buy" skills from different classes, though at a point handicap. In-game the scenes vary slightly depending on your class, and you have class-specific quests. Also, the main quests have unique sollutions based on your class. You can do quests from other classes with bought or substitute skills (The "Open" magic is a good substitute for a lockpick, for example), though you won't get any points for them. This creates fun, varied playthroughs. Many of the quests are optional (in the first game you only need to find Elsa and defeat the bandits, for example), and only the game's puzzle point score and your conscience will know the difference. The series has a very silly sense of humour (check out the death scenes), as well as strong foreshadowing, which is thanks to the couple who wrote the series, Corey and Lori Ann Cole. Their own emotional connection to the series will help you form your own bonds to the characters and the world of Gloriana. Beware, though: You can die and get stuck sometimes, and there's some grinding involved.

Thank you, Lori Ann Cole for creating this amazing series. Of all the adventure games out there, the "Quest For Glory" games are my favorite. They are the perfect combination of puzzle-solving, great characters, family friendliness, humor, a diversity of settings and characters, everything. While all series' of games are unique in some ways, the "Quest For Glory" series is probably the most unique of all adventure games. You can play as either a fighter, a wizard, or a thief, and in later games you can play as a paladin. The different character classes have different solutions to some puzzles, which means the "Quest For Glory" series is like 3 or 4 games in one. You can fight monsters and build up character stats, a rarity in adventure games. While in most adventure games, most non-protagonist characters are just people you see once or twice and maybe get one or 2 things from them and never see them again, in "Quest For Glory," you can talk to characters about a variety of things. So you can real get a feel as to what each of these people are like. Also, the "Quest For Glory" series treats your character like a real human, which means he has to sleep and eat every day. The character can starve to death or die of exhaustion. Also, time passes like real time in this game. Time doesn't just pass when you do things like in most adventure games, time passes even when you do nothing. I don't know of any other games besides "King's Quest 4" that are like this. Lastly, I think "Quest For Glory" has the BEST humor out of all games. It's not as silly and dependent on humor as "Space Quest" or "Leisure Suit Larry," but I think "Quest For Glory" has better humor than those other 2 series (both of which I like). And IMO all of the games are great. Most other series of games have 1 or 2 weak ones. Not "Quest For Glory." All 5 games are awesome. I just can't say enough about these games. If you love adventure games, buy this package.